“Fine. In the meantime, get me what you have on Victus operatives working in the States. They’ve never had a presence here, so why now?”
“Is the civilian able to compromise you?”
I froze. I knew what he was asking. He wanted to know if Lyra had seen me do anything out of the ordinary. Something they’d have to make her forget. “No. It was a run of the mill date. But he took her purse, so have the team ask her about it when they question her.”
Curtis sighed. “Fine. Likely he’s a contractor passing through just getting his kicks with a little light robbery. The civilian, you vetted her?”
Shit. “Yes. I used Hans.” Hans was our resident hacker. There wasn’t a system he couldn’t break. Other than thinking Lyra was hot, he’d found nothing remotely interesting about her.
“Fine. Come in for a debrief tomorrow, and we’ll send a team to interview the civilian.”
“One more thing, Curtis. He managed to hit me. He could have killed me, but he didn’t.”
Curtis’s voice went icier. “That sounds personal, Marcus.”
“It’s never personal. I don’t know him. He did hurt my friend though.”
Curtis was silent for a beat. “Your friend? The civilian?”
“Yes.”
“Control will be happy that you’re heeding their advice.” I could hear both surprise and pleasure in the tone of his voice.
“Well, I’m not doing it for Control. The point is, she’s a nice, normal woman.”
“Oh, sounds exciting. Aren’t you glad you had that date?”
I laughed. “Actually, I am.”
Curtis’s chuckle was low. “If you say so. I’ll check on what you need to do and get back to you.”
Maybe I was overreacting, but something was off. I didn’t know what it was, but I could feel it in my bones. I pulled up the surveillance on my front hall and kept the cameras trained on Lyra’s flat.
She wasn’t mine. I knew that. At the same time, I couldn’t help that suspicious feeling. Like she needed my protection.
Are you sure that’s not just you getting attached?
No, I wasn’t getting attached. Being with her would take care of one of my problems. Control would finally get off my arse now. That whole attachments look normal, let us control your life thing. I had zero interest in that.
What I did have an interest in was Lyra Wilkinson. And tonight she’d finally shown me a part of herself. Something real. And that real part of her was impossible to resist. And just in case I was right about the mugger targeting me, I needed to keep her safe. Because she had no idea who I was.
And that made her a target too.
You’ll be repeating history.
Lyra
If I was being entirely honest with myself, I wasn’t sure how long I sat there against my door with my bandaged knee that had been kissed all better by Marcus Black. But eventually, I found my brain cells.
They’d been drugged by Marcus and his kisses, but they were in full functioning order again. I stood slowly, wincing slightly as my knee smarted. Son of a bitch. That little shit Prochenko really did need a lesson taught to him.
Stop being impetuous.
I could practically hear Roz in my head. But this wasn’t about me being impetuous. Stannis was here. And he was here for a reason. Not to mention that now he was armed with my gun.
I marched into the bathroom, carefully tugged a shower cap over my hair, then took a quick, perfunctory shower, wincing as the water and soap sluiced over my knee.
When I was done, I let my hair out of the strategic bobby pins I’d used to pile all the curls to one side. I wrapped myself in a robe and then went to my bookshelf. I’d been so happy when I moved in here. Roz had set it up for me, just how I loved it. Books galore with a fantastic hidden compartment.
I pulled my copy of Pride and Prejudice down to a forty-five-degree angle. On the inside panel of the book was a keypad on which I tapped in my code, and voilà; the shelves split apart, revealing my weapons arsenal as well as a communications portal.
I never left the house without a weapon. Though tonight, that practice had bit me in the ass. And not in a fun, dirty kind of way I wanted from Marcus.
What do you know about dirty?
I knew things. I’d read a lot. I might not have a whole ton of practical experience, but I did like dirty books. Maybe Marcus Black would be willing to try practical dirty application.
I rolled my eyes at myself. One kiss and my body was ready to jump on that Marcus Black train and ride it for all it was worth. I needed help.
Inside my little weapons vault, there was a secure computer to check in with work. I did a quick check to make sure that Addie hadn’t been sent out on a mission while I was on my date. And when I saw that she was in, on site for the night, I called her secure line.
She answered with, “Home already? That’s really disappointing, Lyra.”
“Hey,” I muttered petulantly. “Who said it was disappointing?”
“Honey, it’s not even midnight.”
“So?” Okay, yes. That was sad.
“Are you calling me with him in your apartment?”
I sighed. I could almost picture her. Blond curls cascading around her shoulders, bright topaz-colored eyes narrowed in a shrewd expression as she tried to ascertain the truth in something. She knew me.
“Okay, to be fair, it’s not my fault the date ended early.”
She laughed. “Uh-huh. Of course, it’s not your fault, baby.”
“It’s not,” I insisted. “I got mugged.”
She went deadly serious then. “Is that why you’re calling? Were there witnesses? Do I need to engage Babel Protocol?”
Why did everyone always assume I handled things with my weapons? You accidentally stab one human trafficker, and no one ever let you forget it. “No need for Babel. He’s still standing. I had no choice. I was with a witness.”
“That sounds more like it.”
“One
